Kingborough v Hobart Zebras (WSL)

And that is the final act of the game, the Zebras in the end comfortable winners but credit to the Lions hung in there for a long while, but the class wins out in the end.

90+1′ GOAL! 4-0! A long ball over the top springs Berry in behind, she charges into the box, rounds Gardner and sticks it in the back of the net!

89′ Shot on! Hickman curls one from distance that Cooks shifts across to catch comfortably.

88′ Davis is denied by Cook who gets down and makes herself big to prevent the Lions pulling one back from close range.

85′ SUBS- Moate and Ridler on for Harris and Nichols.

83′ Woodwork! Spandler comes within a paint of coat of making it 4. She raced in behind and one on one picked out the far post! Lions falling away now.

80′ GOAL! 3-0! Dam wall has burst now! Kannegiesser at the double, played in, she tried to slide it through the legs of Gardner who got a piece of it, but she ran onto the ball and tapped it home on the second attempt!

Not that the Lions had looked overly likely to equalise but the possibility remained there whilst it was 1-0, the ladder leaders breathing a lot easier now, with the streak almost certainly set to reach 21 wins now.

77′ GOAL! 2-0! Finally they get the second! A Bowden corner is curled into the box and rising to meet it is Kannegiesser who nods home from close range.

73′ Shot off! And again! Berry seemingly one on one, she shapes to shoot but from behind, De Smit gets a touch in to put her off and she fires wide.

SUB- Hickman on for Green

71′ Berry does ever so well to beat a defender after Nichols played her in, then looks to round the keeper which she does but her touch is far too heavy and it rolls over the line for a goal kick. Zebras should have killed this contest of by now but their profligacy could yet haunt them.

67′ Laura Davis with some fast feet to get around Mason but O’Brien gets over to cover.

64′ Big chances goes to waste, Spandler just a little too hesitant to pull the trigger after rounding Gardner, opting to pass instead.

64′ SUB- Castaneda-Harper for Wright.

Opening 10 minutes has seen Zebras really pushing hard and they are all over the Lions but haven’t been able to land the killler blow just yet.

55′ SUB- Mckay replaces James for the Lions.

53′ Shot on! Bowden works it to Nichols who threads it through to Spandler in acres of space, she takes a touch to compose herself before firing straight at Gardner. Big chance goes begging there!

52′ Woodwork! Kannegiesser somehow fashions a shot from the tightest of angles, it’s thumps into the cross bar and off the post and somehow stays out.

50′ Shot on! Gardner makes a save with her feet as Berry tried to squeeze one between the legs after being played in on the left hand side of the box.

49′ A Kannegiesser cross after a surging run down the right, grazes the top of Berry’s head but she can’t direct it goalward.

46′ Back underway, and immediately Nichols is played in behind, she tries to poke it past Gardner who comes out and smothers it.

Half Time: Kingborough 0-1 Hobart Zebras

So the Zebras have the lead at the break and have had the better of the contest but they haven’t put it on the scoreboard yet. The Lions have been pretty solid in defence and there have been a couple of moments on the counter, where Davis in particular has looked capable of pulling one back so there is still plenty to play for.

45′ Shot off! Green lashes one from 25 yards that just flies over the bar. Followed a funny moment where Watkins gave up on the ball thinking it was out, only for it to turn and roll straight along the paint for a good 10 metres.

42′ Slice of Cheese! Mason with a late challenge on Davis and she goes into the book.

41′ Shot off! Burt has a shy from range but it’s never threatening the goal of Gardner.

35′ GOAL!!! 1-0! She makes no mistake this time though, Nichols has the Zebras ahead. Played through one on one, she opts to fake the shot and rounds the keeper, putting it into the empty net!

33′ Crossbar! Kannegiesser rattles the crossbar with a thumping hit that had the keeper beat, the rebound falls to Nichols who volleys over the bar from close range, you’d expect her to bury that one, let off for the Lions!

31′ A teasing cross flicks off the head of Mason and somehow eludes the lurking Davis allowing Cook to grab it.

28′ De Smit does well to get a foot in and prevent a dangerous looking Zebras attack. The Lions defence has been under immense pressure throughout the opening 25 minutes here.

25′ Burt feeds Nichols who goes left, then right to beat Iseli but Clifford is on hand to cover and whacks it away before she can fire off a shot.

23’Georgia Burt leads the Lions midfield a merry dance, spinning past a couple and then scrapping to win the ball back twice when it seemed she had lost it, before just overhitting a through ball that almost sprung Nichols. A joy to watch is Burt.

21′ Shot off! Some brilliant work from Berry on the by-line, jinking past 2 leads to a chance for Burt at the top of the box who curls it onto the roof of the net.

19′ The Lions have their best spell of the game with Davis and Clifford looking dangerous but ultimately they can’t generate a clear chance.

18′ Some nice build up play leads to Green running at Graham in the Lions box but Graham does well to put in behind for a corner, which leads to another, which leads to another. All 3 are dealt with by the Zebras.

15′ Offside flag denies Zebras the lead! Berry on the right hand side of the box played a perfectly weighted pass to the back post for a sliding Nichols to bury home, but she had strayed a yard and is denied by the flag!

13′ Shot blocked! Clifford does well in dfence to scramble across and make a block on a Kannegiesser shot.

11′ Zebras firmly on top at the moment and asking plenty of questions. Lions have had one good attacking move forwards but could only pick out Cook with the cross. They will need to be clinical when those sort of moments do open up for them.

6′ Woodwork! Inches away from taking the lead is Nichols, she surged in behind the defence then looked to lift if over the advancing Gardner with a deft chip, she did just that but it bounces onto the post. Might have been better off going the placed finish but points for style there!

Different looking back 4 for the Zebras today.With Monique Undy likely done for the season and Nellis away, Mason is back in the middle of defence. Graham moves to left back and Jess Harris is lining up as a right back.

4′ Shot off! First chance of the game falls the way of Bowden and she curls an effort just wide of the post after Nichols cut inside then squared a ball to her at the top of the box.

1′ Underway at the Den. Gorgeous day for football, here sun in shining.

First up at Lightwood Park on the Saturday we have the Kingborough Lions playing host to the Hobart Zebras who are coming up on a 3 week stretch where they will be expected to take 9 points from, but must avoid complacency to do so. Last time the sides met it was the Lions who got the jump on them and they went into the half time sheds with a 2-1 lead before the Zebras snapped to life in the second half and ran out comfortable 5-1 winners, thanks to a hat-trick from Danielle Kannegiesser. With the Zebras also claiming a 7-2 victory in their other league meeting early in the season, they will enter this game as clear favourites and be looking to take care of business with a minimum of fuss. If they were to slip up, then Kingborough have shown they have the weapons to do some damage back the other way, but holding out the free scoring Zebras looks a difficult assignment. They defended well to keep a clean sheet against Clarence last week, but this is an opponent who packs far more of a punch. Given the Lions have shipped 41 goals in 5 games against top 3 opposition this season, it’s hard to see them causing the upset here. A pass mark would be a competitive game and looking to concede less than the five goals from the previous meeting. They are such a young side that performance as well as gradual improvement from these games against the big sides is how they should be judged.

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The appetite for a professional sporting franchise down here remains as ravenous as ever. Tasmanian’s love their sport and they have been starved of representation in National competitions, looked over time after time. The AFL clearly won’t be the ones to sate that hunger, thus FFA finds itself with the chance to both fill that gap in the market and strike a blow against the AFL in one fell swoop.